By default, a Windows PC tick
rate is set to 15.625 milliseconds, meaning the processor "wakes
up" and looks for work to do about 64 times per second. But
running Chrome resets the tick rate to 1 millisecond — the
processor is now up and looking for work 1,000 times per
second.

Here's how Morris explains what
this is all about:

What is a clock tick anyway, and why does it matter? In an
OS like Windows, events are often set to run at intervals. To
save power, the processor sleeps when nothing needs attention,
and wakes at predefined intervals. This interval is what Chrome
adjusts in Windows, so reducing it to 1.000ms means that the
system is waking far more often than at 15.625ms. In fact, at
1.000ms the processor is waking 1000 times per second. The
default, of 15.625ms means the processor wakes just 64 times per
second to check on events that need attention.

According to Microsoft, such a drastic change in system clock
tick rate can increase power demands by up to 25%, and your
laptop battery is left carrying that burden. And because a tick
rate is universal, it only takes one application messing with it
(Chrome) to affect it system-wide.

Surprisingly, little ol' Internet Explorer is savvy enough to
adapt its tick rate. Casual browsing inside of IE that's full of
idle time will leave the rate unaffected at 15.625 milliseconds.
Start playing a video on YouTube and it will adjust the rate to 1
millisecond for smooth media playback. By contrast, Chrome on
Windows sets the rate up high and leaves it there until you close
the browser.

The only real "solution" to this problem for now is to close
Chrome and adopt another browser. Internet Explorer and Firefox
do not have this problem.

Morris calls for those who want Google to doing something about
it to "star" the issue in the company's bug tracking system.
Click
here, then click on the star at the left to light it up.